Broadly, the invention relates to a method for producing halogen products. In particular, the invention is directed to a method for burning a fuel mixture containing a halogenated organic compound, in a Diesel engine to produce a hydrohalic acid, such as hydrochloric acid.
In the chemical industry it is frequently a problem to dispose of waste chemicals which contain elemental halogens or halogenated organic compounds. One means which has been used to solve the problem is to incinerate the waste substances in a fire tube boiler. When chlorinated or brominated waste hydrocarbons are burned in a fire tube boiler, HCl or HBr can usually be recovered as a useful by-product.
The fire tube boiler thus provides a means for disposing of waste materials and, at the same time, provides a means for producing useful chemicals. However, this technique for producing a halogen acid, such as HCl, is not generally considered as a commercially feasible process. One problem is that special absorber units and other auxiliary equipment are required to recover HCl from the vent gases of fire tube boilers. Another problem is that HCl produced in this manner contains a high percentage of Cl.sub.2. This is a particular disadvantage in that HCl containing high amounts of Cl.sub.2 cannot be used in many applications. Another drawback in using fire tube boilers for incinerating waste products is that only the thermal energy can be recovered for other uses.
In the practice of the present invention, waste substances containing halogenated organics can be burned in a Diesel engine. The engine thus provides a means for disposing of waste products and it also provides a reactor for producing a hydrohalic acid, such as HCl, which contains only a very small amount of Cl.sub.2. In addition, the Diesel engine supplies both heat and mechanical energy, which can be used in chemical processing, generating electricity, and the like.